Heathers
Heathers is a musical written by Lauren O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy. It is a dark comedy show. There are mentions of suicide, bullying, sexual assault, and violence in schools. The musical is based on the 1988 film, Heathers, written by Daniel Waters. Plot Act I 17 year old Veronica Sawyer is upset that students like Martha Dunstock get bullied, and the school is ruled by the Heathers, Heather Chandler, Heather Duke and Heather McNamara. When Veronica’s forgery gets the Heathers out of trouble, they make her beautiful and she becomes a Heather. Chandler finds out about Martha Dunstock’s crush on Kurt Kelly, and tells Veronica to write a forged love note to her posing as Kurt. Jason “J.D.” Dean, criticizes Veronica for betraying Martha. J.D. wins a fight against Kurt and Ram, and Veronica becomes attracted to him. Veronica’s parents tell her they don’t like the Heathers and suggest that she stays friends with Martha. Veronica sees J.D. at 7-11 and he tells her about how he numbs his pain with slurpees. Veronica goes to Ram’s homecoming party and gets drunk and high. Veronica leaves the Heathers after they prank Martha and throws up on Heather Chandler’s shoes. Heather tells Veronica that she’ll ruin her reputation and that she’ll be dead by Monday. Veronica decides to spend her last 30 hours getting freaky. She goes to J.D.’s house and has sex with him. The next day, J.D. and Veronica go to Chandler’s house to apologize. They mix hangover cures for her. J.D. adds drain cleaner to his mug as a joke, but the mugs are switch and Heather dies. Veronica forges a suicide note in Heather’s handwriting and her death is believed to be a suicide. Veronica attempts to move on but is constantly mocked by Heather’s ghost. Heather Duke assumes Chandler’s role as leader and her red scrunchies. Kurt and Ram tell everyone that they had sex with Veronica and she is branded as a slut. J.D. attacks them to defend Veronica, but they beat him up. J.D. and Veronica plan a prank. Veronica will lure them into the cemetery promising sex, and her and J.D. will shoot them with “ich lüge” bullets to make them pass out, then Veronica will forge a suicide note saying that they took their lives because they were gay loves in an unaccepting world. J.D. shoots Ram and Veronica misses Kurt. Veronica realizes the bullets are real and that Ram is dead, J.D. shoots Kurt. Act II At Kurt and Ram’s funeral, Ram’s dad criticizes Kurt’s dad for remaining homophobic. Kurt’s dad kisses Ram’s dad and their secret affair is revealed. J.D. asks Veronica to target Heather Duke next. Veronica refuses. J.D. complains about doing nothing about injustice. He reveals he witnessed his mother's suicide. Veronica gives him a choice: give up violence and be with her, or lose her for good. J.D. choose to stay with her. Mrs. Fleming holds a therapy session and encourages everyone to reveal their fears and insecurities. Heather McNamara reveals that she has suicidal thoughts. Veronica admits to killing Heather, Ram, and Kurt, but everyone thinks Veronica just wants attention. Veronica stops McNamara from overdosing. J.D., armed, tells Veronica again to go after Heather Duke. Veronica breaks up with him once realizing that he is unstable. J.D. blackmails Heather Duke into signing a student body petition. Martha jumps off of a bridge, mourning Ram. She survives. Veronica goes to the hospital. Veronica returns home, and J.D. breaks into her house. Veronica hides in the closet and J.D. reveals that the student body petition is a mass suicide note signed by every student. He tells about his plan to blow up the school will appear as a mass suicide. He breaks the closet open and finds Veronica hanging. He’s devastated and leaves to complete his plan. Veronica, who faked her suicide, goes to stop J.D. She confronts J.D. in the boiler room. J.D. is shot. Veronica cannot disarm the bombs, and takes them into the football field. J.D. tells her to to give him the bomb. The bomb explodes. J.D. dies but Veronica survives. Veronica goes back inside and takes the red scrunchie from Heather Duke. Veronica finds Martha and McNamara and asks if they wants to rent a movie and be kids. Songs # Beautiful — Veronica, Students # Candy Store — Chandler, Duke, McNamara # Fight For Me — Veronica, Students # Freeze Your Brain — J.D. # Big Fun — Ram, Kurt, Veronica, Heathers, Students # Dead Girl Walking — Veronica, J.D. # The Me Inside of Me — Cops, Veronica, Mrs. Fleming, Company # Blue — McNamara, Duke, Kurt, Ram # Our Love is God — Veronica, J.D. # My Dead Gay Son — Ram’s Dad, Kurt’s Dad, Mourners # Seventeen — Veronica, J.D. # Shine a Light — Mrs. Fleming, Students # Lifeboat — McNamara # Shine a Light (Reprise) — Duke, Students # Kindergarten Boyfriend — Martha # Yo Girl — Chandler, Kurt, Ram # Meant to Be Yours — J.D., Students # Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) — Veronica, J.D., Studennts # I Am Damaged — Veronica, J.D. # Seventeen (Reprise) — Veronica, Martha, McNamara, Duke Trivia * The character Veronica Sawyer is named after Veronica from Archie Comics and the Mark Twain character Tom Sawyer. * The Musical received two Drama Desk nominations. * In September 2010, ''Heathers ''was originally performed as a concert.